Operation Refuah: The Love Campaign

Join the campaign that is employing unconditional love as a powerful weapon against baseless hatred.

by Operation Refuah

Can Ahavat Chinam (unconditional love) really counteract the Sinat Chinam (baseless hatred) that has brought tragedy and destruction to the Jewish People? Can the commitment by thousands upon thousands to the mitzvah of "Love your neighbor as yourself" (V'Ahavta L'Reyacha Kamocha) change the world? Operation Refuah says ABSOLUTELY! And they're counting on Jews around the globe to sign their names to it.

For the past two years, Operation Refuah, the world's biggest project to mobilize Jews to practice the mitzvah of "Love your neighbor as yourself", has been circulating the Chaverim Kol Yisrael (All Jews are Friends) scroll around the globe. Men, women, and children from as far as Spain to Singapore, France to Australia, Argentina to Israel, and many other countries have joined American Jewry in signing their names to this scroll. In doing so, participants reaffirm that the Jewish People are indeed One People with One Heart and One Soul and rededicate themselves to the pivotal mitzvah of loving one's neighbor.

During the Three Weeks leading up to Tisha B'Av, a time of mourning for the destruction of the Holy Temple, Operation Refuah is urging all Jews to especially focus on this mitzvah and has initiated a massive campaign to sign on more names to their scroll. All names that are received will be placed in a specially designed container at one of the holiest sections at the Kotel. In addition, teenage representatives from the "Kids for Kids" organization and Operation Refuah volunteers will read as many names as possible at the Kotel. Some names will also be read at other holy sites in Israel during the Three Weeks leading up to Tisha B'Av.

As founders Sheila Nashofer, Hadassa Goldsmith, and Sara Wilansky explain, " It is most auspicious that these public declarations of Ahava (Love) and Achdut (Unity) be brought to the Wall – the only remnant of the Second Bait HaMikdash that was destroyed perhaps because of a lack of this love and unity – and that the names be brought at the time period in history when this destruction occurred. Now, as Jews in Israel and around the world are besieged with tragedies of all kinds, we must join together to bring about what is need most – unity and love for each other. This is, and has always been, our greatest strength and protection from all troubles."

Susan Roth, founder of the Eshet Chayil Foundation that sponsors Operation Refuah, has worked relentlessly to establish an enormous presence for this vital project in the streets of Israel. Through a coordinated effort with a committee of volunteers, she has ensured that there will be almost two dozen booths in both the largest malls and bus stations in the ten major cities in Israel geared at adding signatures of commitment to the scroll. Mrs. Roth explains, "It is important to show the world that the Jewish People are one. Only if we are united as a people can we fulfill the purpose for which we were chosen – to be a light to the nations."

To sign the scroll and/or for more information about Operation Refuah's campaign, please visit www.operationrefuah.org or

Since honey is produced by bees, and bees are not a kosher species, how can honey be kosher?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

The Talmud (Bechoros 7b) asks your very question! The Talmud bases this question on the principle that “whatever comes from a non-kosher species is non-kosher, and that which comes from something kosher is kosher.”

So why is bee-honey kosher? Because even though bees bring the nectar into their bodies, the resultant honey is not a 'product' of their bodies. It is stored and broken down in their bodies, but not produced there. (see Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 81:8)

By the way, the Torah (in several places such as Exodus 13:5) praises the Land of Israel as "flowing with milk and honey." But it may surprise you to know that the honey mentioned in the verse is actually referring to date and fig honey (see Rashi there)!

In 1809, a group of 70 disciples of the great Lithuanian sage the Vilna Gaon, arrived in Israel, after traveling via Turkey by horse and wagon. The Vilna Gaon set out for the Holy Land in 1783, but for unknown reasons did not attain his goal. However he inspired his disciples to make the move, and they became pioneers of modern settlement in Israel. (A large contingent of chassidic Jews arrived in Tzfat around the same time.) The leader of the 1809 group, Rabbi Israel of Shklov, settled in Tzfat, and six years later moved to Jerusalem where he founded the modern Ashkenazic community. The early years were fraught with Arab attacks, earthquakes, and a cholera epidemic. Rabbi Israel authored, Pe'at Hashulchan, a digest of the Jewish agricultural laws relating to the Land of Israel. (He had to rewrite the book after the first manuscript was destroyed in a fire.) The location of his grave remained unknown until it was discovered in Tiberias, 125 years after his death. Today, the descendants of that original group are amongst the most prominent families in Jerusalem.

When you experience joy, you feel good because your magnificent brain produces hormones called endorphins. These self-produced chemicals give you happy and joyful feelings.

Research on these biochemicals has proven that the brain-produced hormones enter your blood stream even if you just act joyful, not only when you really are happy. Although the joyful experience is totally imaginary and you know that it didn’t actually happen, when you speak and act as if that imaginary experience did happen, you get a dose of endorphins.

These chemicals are naturally produced by your brain. They are totally free and entirely healthy.

Many people find that this knowledge inspires them to create more joyful moments. It’s not just an abstract idea, but a physical reality.

Occasionally, when I walk into an office, the receptionist greets me rudely. Granted, I came to see someone else, and a receptionist's disposition is immaterial to me. Yet, an unpleasant reception may cast a pall.

A smile costs nothing. Greeting someone with a smile even when one does not feel like smiling is not duplicity. It is simply providing a pleasant atmosphere, such as we might do with flowers or attractive pictures.

As a rule, "How are you?" is not a question to which we expect an answer. However, when someone with whom I have some kind of relationship poses this question, I may respond, "Not all that great. Would you like to listen?" We may then spend a few minutes, in which I unburden myself and invariably begin to feel better. This favor is usually reciprocated, and we are both thus beneficiaries of free psychotherapy.

This, too, complies with the Talmudic requirement to greet a person in a pleasant manner. An exchange of feelings that can alleviate someone's emotional stress is even more pleasant than an exchange of smiles.

It takes so little effort to be a real mentsch.

Today I shall...

try to greet everyone in a pleasant manner, and where appropriate offer a listening ear.

With stories and insights,
Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...